<\/p>\n
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Wom<\/span><\/b>en\u2019s Aid Federation of England, said<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFour years after the domestic abuse bill was first promised in the Queen\u2019s Speech, it has finally become law, and today we would like to pay tribute to the many survivors, campaigners and domestic abuse\u00a0organisations\u00a0who have made this new law\u00a0possible.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The fact that\u00a0it has been\u00a0delivered\u00a0following\u00a0two general elections, the prorogation of parliament, and a global pandemic,\u00a0is a testament to the commitment of\u00a0everyone involved\u00a0\u2013\u00a0from\u00a0the MPs who stood up for survivors,\u00a0to our Experts by Experience who bravely shared their experiences of domestic abuse in Westminster as part of our Law in the Making project.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n During this time,\u00a0Women\u2019s Aid has welcomed the opportunity to work with women who have survived abuse, our member services,\u00a0sister\u00a0organisations,\u00a0and other charities\u00a0as well as the government and parliament, to deliver a step change\u00a0through this legislation in\u00a0the response to domestic\u00a0abuse.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n We have seen results\u00a0\u2013\u00a0strengthened protection in the family courts,\u00a0recognition of children as victims in their own right,\u00a0a guarantee that survivors escaping domestic abuse will be in \u2018priority need\u2019 for housing, a\u00a0legal duty on councils\u00a0to\u00a0fund support in safe accommodation, and many more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n However, the new Act\u00a0has significant\u00a0gaps,\u00a0and not all women will be protected by the new law.\u00a0Despite the\u00a0tireless\u00a0campaigning of\u00a0Southall\u00a0Black Sisters, the\u00a0Step Up\u00a0Migrant Women campaign led by the Latin American Women\u2019s Rights Service and the End Violence Against Women Coalition, the government has failed to deliver equal protection and support for migrant women through the new\u00a0law.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n All survivors must have the right to seek help, and live a life free from abuse.\u00a0We will continue to campaign for the law to protect all women and children from domestic abuse, and provide safety from abusers\u00a0regardless of immigration status.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n There is a further omission in the Act.\u00a0Despite having\u00a0a statutory duty on local authorities to fund support in \u2018accommodation based\u2019 services.\u00a0it does not use the word \u201crefuge\u201d at all.\u00a0We\u00a0are disappointed that the Act does not go further in delivering the changes survivors and our life saving network of member services need.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n We\u00a0now\u00a0need the guidance and regulations underpinning this duty to make crystal clear that local authorities must fund\u00a0under this important duty\u00a0specialist women\u2019s refuges,\u00a0which\u00a0deliver expert support to survivors and their children.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n An urgent reform of the family court response to domestic abuse also remains\u00a0a\u00a0key priority for survivors.\u00a0As our Survivor Ambassador Claire Throssell\u00a0MBE\u00a0has said, there is a \u2018deadly culture\u2019 in the family courts,\u00a0which too often\u00a0leads to\u00a0unsafe child contact arrangements.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Whilst the legislation will improve protection for survivors within court rooms, it does nothing to change the \u2018pro-contact\u2019 culture of the family justice system. The Ministry of Justice\u2019s report in 2020 concluded\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0family courts do not effectively protect many\u00a0child\u00a0and adult victims of domestic abuse from further harm, and we know the\u00a0devastating impacts this has on\u00a0the lives of\u00a0women and children experiencing domestic abuse. <\/em><\/p>\n The Act is a\u00a0\u201conce in a generation opportunity\u201d but now we have to see how it translates on the ground. It needs\u00a0to be used throughout society, at every point where survivors need help\u00a0\u2013\u00a0from the police to children\u2019s social care, health,\u00a0the courts,\u00a0and\u00a0more.<\/em><\/p>\n The lessons from previous legislation are clear \u2013 unless the law comes with training for professionals, resources and a clear implementation plan,\u00a0it will not improve responses to survivors. <\/em><\/p>\n Royal Assent\u00a0is an important moment, but\u00a0rather than being the end of the work needed,\u00a0this provides us with\u00a0a beginning.\u00a0The legislation needs to now translate to action to provide the changes that survivors need to see.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women’s Aid statement on the Royal Assent of the domestic abuse bill Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women\u2019s Aid Federation of England, said\u00a0 \u201cFour years after the domestic abuse bill was first promised in the Queen\u2019s Speech, it has finally become law, and today we would like to pay tribute to the many survivors, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":881,"featured_media":16875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1941,31],"tags":[72,871,527,38,1122,745,701,140,1121,617,1123,1118,1117,1114,1119,1120,1116,1115,141,48,279,1070],"class_list":["post-16872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-key-statements","category-news","tag-domestic-abuse","tag-domestic-abuse-act","tag-domestic-abuse-bill","tag-domestic-violence","tag-end-violence-against-women-coalition","tag-experts-by-experience","tag-farah-nazeer","tag-government","tag-latin-american-womens-rights-service","tag-law-in-the-making","tag-migrant-women","tag-minoritised-survivors","tag-minoritsed-women","tag-royal-assent","tag-southall-black-sisters","tag-step-up-migrant-women","tag-survivor-centred","tag-trauma-led","tag-vawg","tag-violence-against-women-and-girls","tag-womens-aid","tag-womens-aid-ceo-statement","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n